//------------------------------//
// It's Dangerous to Go Alone, Take This 
// Story: The Insane Art Teacher 
// by Ironskull 
//------------------------------//

"Sunset Shimmer.  A former student of mine," spoke Princess Celestia sadly.  "She began her studies with me not long before Twilight.  But when she did not get what she wanted as quickly as she liked, she turned cruel and dishonest.  I tried to help her, but she eventually decided to abandon her studies and pursue her own path.  One that has sadly led to her stealing your crown."

"She replaced Twilight's with this one," said Spike, holding a duplicate of Twilight's crown out.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light.

After the light faded away, all ponies present beheld Discord where it had been, standing on a pair of skis and holding two ski poles.  Upon his head was a ushanka hat with holes for his horns and a red and yellow striped scarf was wrapped around his neck.

"Let me see that thing!" he demanded, stepping out of the skis and giving his ski poles to a nearby bewildered orange guard.

He snatched the crown from Spike's claws.

"Hey!" complained Spike.

"Hmm," he muttered to himself.  "No magical traps waiting to spring.  You did check for them, right?" he said, addressing Twilight.

"Yes, I did."

"Good.  Hmm.  This thing is made out of cheap plastic, but it matches the form of Twilight's real crown soooo exactly.  Suspicious."

"I was photographed wearing it for the coronation, Discord," answered Twilight.  "And ponies across Equestria have seen that picture by now."

"Yes, I understand that," said Discord nonchalantly, "But you see, this fake copy is exactly the same shape as the real thing.  Exactly.  And yes, I can tell."

"It is?" asked Twilight in surprise.  "But that would mean that the thief must have stolen my crown once before already, made a mold of it, and then put it back!"

"Perhaps," mused Discord.  "It is also possible magic was involved, of course.  But any spell that could replicate your crown to such precision would be quite difficult to cast."

"That is even more worrying," Twilight pointed out.

"It is."

"But I don't understand!" Twilight continued in dispair.  "How could this have happened?  Where did she go?  Where did she take the crown?"

"I have no idea," answered Discord.

"Ahem," said Princess Celestia, glaring at Discord.  "I was just about to explain before we were interrupted.  Come."





"This is no ordinary mirror," said Luna, looking upon the strange mirror that the thief had disappeared into.  "It is a gateway into another world.  A gateway that only opens once every thirty moons."

"Luckily for you," said Discord (who had followed them), "That particular fact is irrelevant thanks to my ability to teleport anypony I want to that dimension anyway."

"Sparkly!" cried Pinkie happily as she tapped on the mirror, which rippled with power.

"Please refrain from commenting until I have finished," replied Luna patiently, using her magic to gently push Pinkie away.  "It has always been kept in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, but when Princess Cadance took over the Crystal Empire, we sent it here for her to watch over."

"I had always hoped that Sunset Shimmer would someday use it to return, to come back to Equestria seeking my guidance," said Celestia.  "Obviously, this is not what has happened."

"Twilight," said Cadance.  "You must use the mirror to go into this other world and retrieve your crown.  Without it, the other elements have no power and Equestria is left without one of it's most important means of defense!"

"Your crown does not belong in the place Sunset Shimmer now calls home," said Luna.  "And in her possession, your element of harmony will no doubt be used to bring harm to the inhabitance of this other realm.  They will not have the power to defend themselves."

"I'd like to see that put to the test," muttered Discord.

Luna shot him a silencing glance.

"You understand the importance of your task?" asked Celestia as she magically levitated two saddlebags of essentials onto Twilight's back.

"Of course!"

"Good.  Then you must go at once."

Twilight sighed and prepared to step into the mirror.

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew through the air and landed in front of her.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she cried.  "If she's going, we're all going!"

"It's bound to be way more interesting than hanging around here, at any rate," said Discord's voice.

The ponies followed the voice to Rarity and saw a miniaturized Discord leaning back on the back of her horn as though it was a tree.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go," said Celestia sternly.  "Especially you, Discord."

"Oh, going to be a fun-sponge again," said Discord in annoyance.  "Aside from the fact that you can't actually stop me, why shouldn't I go?"

"Sending all of you could upset the balance of this alternate world, creating havoc that would make it impossible for Twilight to get her Crown back from Sunset Shimmer.  This is something Princess Twilight must do alone."

"Alright, fair, I would probably cause more havoc than those six all by myself," said Discord.  "I wouldn't be the lord of chaos if I didn't.  Fine, have it your way then.  Twilight, before you go, come speak to me."

"Time is of the essence," Luna said, and she started casting magic illustrating the night sky.  "On the third day, when the moon is at its peak in the night sky, the gateway will close!  And once it does, it will be another thirty moons before you will be able to return."

"Seriously, doesn't even matter," said Discord in deadpan.  "I'll just bring you back myself if you need some extra time."

"Discord," said Luna in irritation.  "We would prefer that this matter was resolved with as little extra magic as possible.  This world has none of its own, and using magic in it could have unforeseen consequences."

Discord only responded by letting out a "Humph," and crossing his arms.

Twilight turned to Discord.

"Even if you can bring me back, it shouldn't come to that.  But time is of the essence.  What is it you wanted to tell me, Discord?"

"Away from prying ears, if you please," said Discord, and he snapped, and Twilight's vision was filled with light.

She blinked and found herself in a broom closet with Discord.

"Uh... what's this about?" she asked in confusion.

"Listen," said Discord.  "You remember last week when I opened up a portal to another world?  The world in that mirror is that world, and I happen to know a thing or two about it."

"Really?" said Twilight in interest.  "But why couldn't you let everypony else hear that?"

"That's not the part that I don't want them to know.  The thing is, Lulu wasn't kidding about the whole 'no magic' thing.  There isn't a drop of magic in their world at all, at least that I can tell.  And furthermore, when you go through that mirror, it will transform you into something that can't use magic.  As you are still an Equestrian pony at heart, you will have magic within you, but your anatomy will offer you no way to harness your magic.  It's going to be awful.  Unbearable, honestly."

"Maybe it would be for you," Twilight replied, "But I have been in that situation a couple of times before.  One of those times was because of you, if you remember."

"Yes, I remember.  Look, it doesn't matter.  Whether you can bear it or not doesn't matter, because you don't have to.  Sunset stole that crown of yours because magic imbued into objects is still usable even in that world, right?"

"I suppose so, otherwise she would have little reason to steal it.  But what is your point here?  The element of magic is already gone, and I can't use the other elements."

"Lookie what I have here!" said Discord smugly, suddenly holding up the fake crown.

Twilight looked at it for a moment in shock, but her expression quickly morphed into bemusement when she realized that it was not the real crown.

"When did you get ahold of that?"

"Everyone stopped paying any attention to it after Spike showed it off," Discord explained.  "I just took it to inspect it for traps and nopony wanted it back, so here it is.  I still have it."

"But that crown isn't imbued with any magic whatsoever."

"Not yet!"

Discord snapped once again, and then the fake crown suddenly seemed to glimmer with power.

Twilight looked at it in surprise.

"What did you do to it?"

"I put a piece of my power into it.  When you are a master of chaos like I am, it's quite easy."

"But I don't know how to use your magic," Twilight pointed out.

"You won't have to.  The magic that I put into it will trigger by itself when you speak the code-phrase.  Once you activate the magic, it will turn you back into an alicorn.  But it will only last for about twenty-four hours.  I can't put any more magic in it than that without disrupting the balance of magic that Celestia insists on preserving."

"But what about what the Princesses said?" said Twilight uneasily.  "I'm supposed to keep from making a disturbance, or using magic to solve the problem!"

"I'm not telling you to use it as soon as you step into the other world," Discord argued.  "You don't have to ever use it at all.  But you know perfectly well that this might be dangerous.  It is possible that Sunset will attack you if you follow her.  If you are in danger, then forget all of that subtlety garbage, and you'll be happy you have some magic when you really need it."

"Well...  Okay," said Twilight.  "I'll do it.  Just for some extra security."

"Excellent!  Oh, and by the way, don't be weirded out too much if you see some individuals over there that are suspiciously similar to ponies that you know on this side of the mirror."

"Does that include you, Discord?"

Discord suddenly stopped and gazed at Twilight.

"I never thought of that.  Um, maybe?  Although, that world doesn't have any magic, so how could I possibly exist over there, right?"

"I guess I won't know for sure until I see for myself.  So, I'm afraid to ask, but what's the pass-phrase for this magic in the crown?"

"Oh, of course.  Almost slipped my mind.  The pass-phrase is..."


To be continued: